Operation Vampire
by captainodonewithyou
Summary: In a future-based fic, Elena and Damon are headed to visit an old friend in New York when they have to stop off in a strange town in Maine. It isn't long before they run into a legendary vampire with whom Damon just doesn't get along. Meanwhile, Emma and Hook try to figure out what's up with the new strangers in town before someone gets hurt.
1. Chapter 1

The engine of Damon's car seemed to roar as they turned through the desolate streets of the small town. 'Storybrooke', the welcome sign had broadcasted, and Damon had snorted loudly.

"Where Snow White and Prince Charming will cheerily lend you a cup of sugar," he'd quipped, and then laughed again at his own wit. Elena had rolled her eyes and looked back out at the road.

Storybrooke hadn't exactly been a part of the plan. They had meant to leave early enough to arrive in New York by nightfall, to stay in a motel and visit Damon's old witch in the morning before heading back. That was before they had to spend the whole morning helping Caroline prepare for her first college party, which ("obviously, Elena!") had to dazzle the crowds. Apparently her whole life depended on the success of the party, so leaving her would have been cold.

Elena considered mentioning that in 100 years no one would even be alive to remember the party existed, but she held her tongue and instead helped Damon hang streamers. All morning. By the time they left it was clear that they'd be making a motel stop well before arriving in New York, and the little Maine town had been in just the right spot.

The GPS read another turn and Damon followed sharply, throwing Elena into the side of the car.

"Really?" she hissed, glaring at him. He smiled at her, and she rolled her eyes, again returning her gaze to the window.

The town was quant and sweet, with little buildings painted bright colors and stores that certainly didn't belong to a chain. She couldn't make out too much under the shadows of nightfall, and the few streetlights that glowed through the darkness did little to ease it. It reminded her a bit of Mystic Falls, in a way she couldn't quite place.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Damon's voice broke through her thoughts, and she glanced over at him. The car was parked and he was looking out his window. She followed his gaze to a sign over a wooden door.

_Granny's Inn_

Elena smirked.

"We're in Storybrooke, after all," she teased, and he groaned as he swung out of the car.

The round elderly lady who ran the place certainly fit the bill, and Elena found herself trying not to laugh behind her hand as Damon got them a room.

"You're sharing a bed?" the woman was clarifying, judgmental gaze burning behind the glasses perched on her nose.

"Yes," Damon smiled dryly, "And paying for the room. With money," he waved his credit card, and the woman's eyes hardened and narrowed as she took it. Elena hoped for her sake that she'd drop it, because Damon's mood was snippy enough before they'd entered the inn.

She did, and handed him the keys with only one more suspicious once-over.

"Ruby!" she called, voice much louder than Elena expected, and a moment later a lanky girl appeared behind her. She lived up to her name, dressed in red plaid pajamas.

"You don't need to _yell_, Granny," she growled, brushing past the woman and Damon and stopping just in front of the hall.

"You need to show these guests to their room," her Granny answered, with equal snippiness. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Need help with your bags?" she asked dryly, looking them over once, determining they had no such bags, and then sighing loudly, "Which room?"

Elena noted the dark circles under her eyes, realizing slowly that it was late and they probably had woken them up. She felt somewhat bad about it, but she herself was also exhausted and didn't appreciate the fact that she still wasn't in a bed, asleep.

"4," Damon told her, after glancing at the key Granny had given him. He looked her up and down slowly, and Elena rolled her eyes, pushing past him with a nudge and following the girl down the hall. They went up a flight of stairs, and the girl, Ruby, motioned to a door. It had a big 4 over the top, and Elena was quite sure they could have found it themselves, but she kept it to herself.

"Here we are," she announced, and smiled in a thin line. "Sleep well, thanks for staying at Granny's."

As she walked past Damon he smiled in true Damon-the-hopeless-flirt nature. She didn't even pause, throwing a well aimed kick right to his shin and carrying on without missing a step. He groaned, keeling forward a touch and grabbing for his shin before deciding instead to turn on the girl. Elena was a step ahead of him, already grabbing his upper arm and holding him there.

"Don't you dare," she hissed in warning, and he glared icily at her.

"She _kicked_ me, Elena," he muttered, as if she hadn't just watched it happen.

"And you deserved it," she answered, raising her eyebrows, "You can't just kill anyone who looks at you."

He kept glaring at her, but relaxed.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to bed," she finished, finding his wrist and slipping her fingers down into his hand to intercept the key. He caught her hand, and slowly lifted it to his lips.

"I'm sorry," he said softly into her skin, then kissed it lightly. Her heart gave a small flutter and she sighed.

"You're forgiven," she answered, rolling her eyes, "But I'm still going to bed."

-/-

The next morning Damon had been thoroughly pissed to discover that Granny not only owned the only inn in town, but the only restaurant. _Granny's Diner_, another sign boasted, and he'd nearly blown a fuse. That paired with the fact that his car was suddenly stalling, or something along the lines that Damon had no idea how to fix, made for a violently unhappy morning.

"Chill," Elena had groaned, clinging to his arm (and she was afraid if she let go he might destroy the car himself), "Just relax, Damon. Lets just get some breakfast and chill. There has to be a mechanic somewhere in the town, we'll ask around. Just relax."

She was equally frustrated. The town was becoming less sweet by the minute and she'd be the first to admit she wanted out, but it wasn't worth massacring a whole population over. So she'd motioned to the diner and begun to lead him in the general direction as he shook his head violently.

"I don't want a judgy old lady sticking her nose where it shouldn't be," he'd whined as Elena dragged him through the doors and to the closest booth. He sat down hard beside her, shooting her another glare. Moments later an unfortunately familiar face approached them.

"Welcome to Granny's," the same girl from last night, Ruby, shifted, crossed her arms and eyed Damon icily through narrowed lids. Her tone said they were anything but welcome, "Can I get you something?"

She was again dressed in red, in the form of a tank top and high heels, and Elena wondered if it was some sort of inside joke with her name.

"Well if this isn't my lucky day," Damon said coolly, smiling in a hard line.

"Knock it off," Elena elbowed him but he didn't budge.

"I don't like you," he told the girl matter-of-factly, with another smile.

"I don't like you either," she answered easily, with a shrug, "Now that that's out of the way…" she took a step closer, uncrossing her arms and leaning slightly towards them, "When are you leaving?"

Damon didn't flinch, "See, we'd be gone already," his tone had shifted to icy-casual, "Except something happened to my car, and now we are stranded in your messed up little town." he smiled again, wider, with his eyes equally cold and dark as before.

"Sounds like a personal problem," the girl matched Damon's smile, and began to turn away as she called, "Just coffee then?" and then left them alone.

"I don't _like_ her," he repeated to Elena, clenching his teeth.

Elena shrugged slightly, watching her disappear behind the counter and into what must've been the kitchens. She agreed full heartedly that the girl was being unnecessarily rude, but she knew better than to give Damon the satisfaction of knowing that.

"The sooner we're out of here the better," was all she finally conceded, but when she glanced at Damon it was clear he was no longer listening.

His brow was furrowed as he stared across the diner, eyes slightly narrowed. He was concerned, Elena could tell easily, which meant she certainly should be. She felt her muscles tighten in apprehension as she followed his gaze.

Her eyes landed on a pale man, sitting at the bar and drinking a coffee. His hair was dark and slicked back to a shine. She couldn't make out his face, as he was turned away from her, but he held himself with apparent dignity, and he was clearly someone who thought highly of himself and was used to being treated as so. She glanced back at Damon, who was still watching him with that look of half fear and shock.

"Damon," she said softly, and nudged him gently. "Damon?" she repeated when he didn't flinch. Finally, slowly, he turned to her.

"We need to get the hell out of here," he said firmly, voice barely a whisper.

"Damon, what is—" she began but he silenced her with a single firm shake of his head.

"Not here," he said, voice still soft, "We're going to drink our coffee and then we're going to get the car fixed and then we're going to leave."

She opened her mouth to speak again, to ask him again to explain to her what the hell had gotten into him, but the churning unease in his eyes made her close it and nod once, slowly. At exactly that moment, Ruby returned with a steaming pot.

"You're welcome," she said dully as she slammed the coffee onto the table in front of Damon.

His lips tightened and he shifted uneasily before finally losing his patience and biting. "Alright then, for what?"

"My friend is picking up your stupid car," she rolled her eyes, "It should be fixed by noonish, or whatever."

Damon glared at her.

"That is uncharacteristically helpful," he mocked, and then his gaze hardened, "Why?"

"Lets just say I want you out of here as much as you want you out of here," she answered with another fake smile, "The '69 camaro, right?"

Damon's eyes narrowed even further.

"This is a small town, pretty boy," the smile was replaced with a scowl as she left them again, "Coffee's on the house," she called over her shoulder.

"Have I mentioned that I don't like her," Damon growled again.

Elena ignored him, watching the girl heading pointedly towards another table. It was occupied by what appeared to be a couple, a blonde woman who was probably in her late 20's and a ruggedly handsome brunette of around the same age. They both looked contentedly sleepy, and they both were smiling softly, completely unaware of the approaching waitress. Elena focused in on the couple, fine tuning her ears towards them.

"—bloody early hours. Can't have you to myself even a day, eh?" the man smirked as he lifted his cup to his lips. His voice was heavily lilted.

"Why don't you get yourself a job and help pay rent," the woman's tone was firm, but her posture and bright eyes said she was teasing, "Then we can talk about my hours."

The man rolled his eyes dramatically and opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by the waitress.

"Guys, we have a problem," she muttered, and Elena stilled and quickly looked away as she motioned (rather un-surreptitiously) in their direction. The table was silent a moment and Elena tried to look as natural as possible. She felt Damon's eyes on her, and had a feeling he had the same idea.

"Are they… new?" the woman asked, and the man cursed softly under his breath.

Another silence, then an unfamiliar metallic click.

"Good idea," the woman muttered, and Elena didn't have to be looking at them to feel the glances being exchanged amongst them. "Any idea what they're doing here?"

"None," Ruby said with an aggravated sigh, "They stayed at the inn last night. Pretty boy is an absolute ass. This morning he told me their car is broken down. I have someone working on it… but…" Damon had tensed at her mention of him, and now was forcing himself to pour a coffee.

Their natural act certainly needed work.

"Bloody hell," the man muttered, "They're probably just passing through, lass," he paused, "No need to work yourselves up over nothing."

"Nothing?" the woman's tone was tense, and then her voice hushed, "Hook," (and Elena was fairly certain she'd heard right), "This isn't…" her voice trailed off as Elena glanced at them, and their eyes met for a half moment before they both looked quickly away, "This isn't something we should be discussing here," she settled on, voice hardened.

Elena let out a slow breath of air, tuning back.

"Well that not sketchy at all," Damon said sarcastically with a tilt of his head, and Elena sighed, meeting his eyes and nodding in agreement.

"We should get out of here," she agreed, and Damon raised his eyebrows in a clear gesture of _I freaking told you so.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Emma groaned as the harsh sunlight settled directly into her tired eyes. She blinked a few times before rolling over on her side to face the still-sleeping man who lay next to her.

"Shh.." Hook whispered.

"I didn't say anything."

"No," he admitted, still speaking with his eyes closed. "But I know you, love. You were about four seconds away from telling me that we need to get up, so that you're not late to your job as supreme protector of this fair land, and so you can return to saving children from ogres and kittens from trees." His voice, still husky from sleep, rose dramatically. Emma rolled her eyes, but laughed softly at his ridiculousness.

"Well, you said it, not me." She pushed his bare shoulder lightly. He yawned in reply and finally opened his eyes. "Get up. You know how awkward it gets when David sees us leave my room together." she added as she pushed the quilt away from herself and let her feet fall to the cold floor.

"Only for you, love."

"Oh please, you should be grateful that David didn't stab you in the neck the time you almost ran into him while you were half-naked."

Hook arched an eyebrow as he begrudgingly slipped out of bed and stepped over to stand next to Emma.

"Half naked? Darling, I only had my shirt off, and it was three-o-clock in the bloody morning! How was I supposed to know he'd be in the bathroom?"

Emma opened the door to the closet, selected the nearest of Hook's shirts (he'd only recently given in and let Emma and Henry take him shopped for more modern clothing) and tossed it in his direction.

"Come on, come back to bed. Duties can wait a few moments longer." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into an embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers for a quick kiss before letting go and returning her attention to the line of clothes.

"Sorry, buddy. Unless you want to be the one sorting through the mile-high stack of reports that still need to be signed, I need to go."

"Can't David do it?" He whined.

"You're worse than Henry!" Emma teased. "If you hurry, we'll have time to get breakfast together at Granny's."  
Hook stared at her for a moment before sighing.

"Alright, alright. You win." He said in a defeated tone as he slid his arms into the shirt and retrieved his sharp metal hook from its place on the nightstand.

To Emma's relief, David and Mary Margaret were still asleep when she and Hook left. It must be a relief, she thought, to finally be able to get a full night of sleep, as the baby was finally spending most nights sleeping rather than screaming at the top of her lungs.

Granny greeted them coldly as they entered the diner.

"Morning. Seat yourself anywhere, Ruby will help you out in a minute." She turned on her heel and retreated back to the kitchen.  
Emma glanced at Hook, eyebrows furrowed.

"I wonder what her problem is."

He shrugged.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. Don't waste the precious few minutes we've got together worrying about the old lass.

The corners of Emma's mouth curled into a smirk.

"Precious few minutes? You act like we're from opposite sides of the world and only get to see each other every ten years as we pass each other briefly."

"Well," Hook interlocked his fingers with hers and pulled her gently towards a booth, only letting go once they were seated. "It certainly seems that way sometimes, love. Take this morning, for example. We have to sneak out before your parents wake, to spend a bit of time together before you run off again."

Their conversation was forced to a pause as Ruby arrived.

"You two are up early." Ruby commented in her usual half-teasing tone. Hook grinned.

"See, even the wolf girl agrees with me." He said, ignoring the glare he was receiving from Ruby as she set two cups of coffee in front of them.

"Don't start with me today, pirate. I'm in no mood for it." She said icily as she slinked back behind the counter.

Emma returned her gaze to Hook.

"I have responsibilities, Killian." she replied. She'd began calling him by his real name in New York, and she'd continued to switch between that and his nickname depending on the conversation.

"I know, I know. But why does it always have to involve waking up every morning at these bloody early hours? Can't even have you to myself for a day, eh?" He laughed softly as he sipped the hot drink.

"Why don't you get yourself a job and help pay rent? Then we can talk about my hours." She teased, and he rolled his eyes. Before he could respond, though, Ruby had returned quickly and unnoticed to their table and was speaking in a fast, hushed voice.

"Guys, we have a problem." The dark-haired girl motioned to a young, dark haired couple sitting on the other side of the room, hiding frowns behind steaming mugs of coffee. The man looked to be close to Emma's age, but younger. The woman looked like she couldn't be older than twenty.

Emma frowned. She thought she knew, or at least had seen at some point, everyone in Storybrooke. These two were unfamiliar. An uneasy feeling settled in Emma's stomach.

"Are they… new?" She asked in a whisper. Hook frowned, muttering a curse under his breath. Emma could hear the scrape of metal against metal as he moved his left arm to rest in his lap where the table hid it, and slowly removed the hook from it's cuff. "Good idea." she commented. Turning back to Ruby, she asked, "Any idea what they're doing here?"

Worried ridges appeared on Ruby's forehead.

"None." She sighed. "They stayed at the inn last night. Pretty boy is an absolute ass."

Hook smirked.

"This morning he told me their car is broken down." She continued. "I have someone working on it, but…" Her voice dropped off as she glanced back towards the unfamiliar couple, who were acting stiff and uncomfortable as the man refilled his cup and the young woman busied herself with opening another packet of sugar. If Emma's suspicions hadn't already been raised, they certainly would be now.

Hook, on the other hand, didn't seem to share her suspicions.

"Bloody hell." He sighed. "They're probably just passing through, lass. No need to work yourselves up over nothing"

Emma glared at him.

"Nothing?" She hissed tersely. "Hook, this isn't…." She glanced up at the couple again, momentarily meeting the eyes of the girl before they both quickly looked away. "This isn't something we should be discussing here." she whispered harshly.

Across the room, the woman turned to her stern-faced companion and he murmured something to her as she nodded in agreement. She said something in reply to him that Emma couldn't hear. The man removed a folded piece of money from his wallet and tossed it on the counter carelessly as they both stood to go. They said nothing as they walked outside.  
Emma bit her lip.

"We need to go tell David and Mary Margaret about this."

"Granny will kill me if I leave, but I'll let you know if I find out anything else." Ruby offered. As if on cue, Granny's sharp voice called out for Ruby the second she'd finished speaking.

"I thought you had to work, love?"

Emma shook her head as she drained the last of the coffee from her mug and stood, waiting for Hook to follow her lead.

"I do, and as sheriff of this town, I've just opened a new investigation."


	3. Chapter 3

"Damon, what is going on?" Elena asked tersely the moment the door to their room closed behind her. He was already pacing uncomfortably, shoulders tense. He'd refused to speak to her on the walk back, and it was safe to say that she was headed somewhere far beyond worried territory. 

"He was supposed to be dead," he hissed out loud, only half to Elena, "He was supposed to have died a very long time ago." 

Elena's mind flashed back to the pale man at the bar, and an uncomfortable churning began in the pit of her stomach. 

"Who Damon? The guy at the diner?" 

He kept pacing, not looking at her. 

"Damon!" she snapped, taking what felt like only a step to come in front of him, blocking his path. He froze, looking down at her with the concerned fervor in his eyes that she'd come to know well, "Damon," she said again, gently, "Tell me what's wrong." 

He was silent a moment, regarding her carefully, before he sighed. 

"He's a vampire," he said slowly, brow knitting, "I knew him in the late 19th century, when I spent some time London… before he was staked by a crew of hunters…" his voice trailed off and the nervous intensity of his eyes felt like it was bearing into her, "He's dangerous, Elena," he added firmly, "Kills for sport. I don't know how the hell he's up and kicking now but we need to get as far away from here as we can, before he realizes we're here." 

Elena remained quiet a moment beneath Damon's concerned eyes, adding things up. 

"If he's dangerous," she finally said slowly, meeting his eyes and furrowing her brow, "That means that the people in the town… He could hurt them." 

Damon let out an impatient breath. 

"And that's their problem. Not ours, Elena," he answered, throwing his hands out in a half shrug. Elena could tell by the way he was looking at her that he simultaneously thought she was losing her mind and was worried what she would say next. And rightfully so. 

"Damon, we can't just leave a town full of people knowing that there is a killer on the loose," she said firmly, shaking her head, "If he's really as horrible as you're making him out to be… They can't handle him. They're just people." 

"Would you rather him come to Mystic Falls, then? Prey on the people who you care about?" he asked incredulously. 

"The people I care about are all weird… supernatural… things that can take care of themselves!" she answered adamantly, crossing her arms over her chest. 

He just stared at her skeptically, eyebrow raised, eyes narrowed. 

"No," he said finally, shaking his head and turning rigidly away from her, "No Elena. You can't just throw on your big cute eyes and a stupid lovey-dovey humanity-is-good! argument and get me to change my mind, not this time." 

"What's he going to do to me?" she challenged, uncrossing her arms slowly but staying where she was, "Damon, he can't hurt us. But he can hurt these innocent people if we don't do something!" 

She took a small step towards him and he turned to glare at her through narrowed lids. She gave him her best aforementioned big cute eyes and his gaze softened fractionally, enough that she could see, again, just a touch of that chilling trepidation that had yet to leave him. 

"No," his hard voice broke her to reality, and he was already brushing past her towards the door, "If I were you, I'd take advantage of the vervain-less bodies of non-Mystic Fallsians while you can. Who knows the next time a warm body'll be on the menu," he glanced over his shoulder to shoot her a tight lipped smile, "At noon we're leaving, so be ready." 

"Damon!" she zoomed (because there was no better word for it, really) between him and the door, "They're already suspicious of us!" 

"Chill," he brushed her aside with a hand on her shoulder, "It's not like I'm gonna kill anyone," he added with a not-so-reassuring smile, then leaned in to stage-whisper conspiratorially in her ear, "That blonde in the diner looked tasty." 

Elena rolled her eyes in disgust and shoved him as he pushed past her and out the door, laughing softly to himself. She debated only for a moment before turning out after him and following him down the hall. 

"Elena, I was joking," he moaned over his shoulder, "I'm going to find the mechanic and check on the car-" 

"Okay," she said simply, with a shrug, "I'm coming with you." 

He took the stairs three at a time and waited impatiently for her at the bottom, arms crossed. 

"It's safer in the room," he muttered when she reached the bottom steps. 

"Again," she muttered, "Can't hurt me." 

"I wouldn't count on that, Elena," he answered, voice tinged with annoyance. 

She shrugged again. 

"I guess we'll find out."


End file.
